Principles of Software Testing for

Testers
Module 0: About This Course
Course Objectives
 After completing this course, you will be a more
knowledgeable software tester. You will be able to
better:
 Understand and describe the basic concepts of
functional (black box) software testing.
 Identify a number of test styles and techniques and
assess their usefulness in your context.
 Understand the basic application of techniques used to
identify useful ideas for tests.
 Help determine the mission and communicate the
status of your testing with the rest of your project team.
 Characterize a good bug report, peer-review the reports
of your colleagues, and improve your own report writing.
 Understand where key testing concepts apply within the
context of the Rational Unified Process.
Principles of Software Testing for Testers
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Intended Audience and Prerequisites
 Intended Audience
 Software testers, quality engineers and other quality-
assurance staff who specifically perform software
testing activities
 Software developers who want to understand the goals
and tactics of functional testing, as it will probably be
applied to their software
 Software managers who need to better understand the
goals and methods of the testers who will work on their
projects
 Prerequisite
 Either six months on-the-job testing experience or
significant experience in some other software
development role.

Principles of Software Testing for Testers

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Course Materials
 Student Workbook
 These slides with notes
 Supplementary papers (e.g. white papers, bibliography.)
 Note: these materials were initially prepared for Rational
by Dr. Cem Kaner and are based jointly on his materials
and on Rational’s support and educational materials for
the Rational Unified Process.
 Book
 Kaner, Bach & Pettichord:
Lessons Learned in Software Testing: A Context-Driven
Approach

Principles of Software Testing for Testers

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Other Sources of Information
 Student Workbook
 Detailed reference list provided
 Rational Developer Network
 http://www.rational.net
 Prof. Cem Kaner’s web site
 http://www.kaner.com
 Rational Unified Process

Principles of Software Testing for Testers

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About the Inclusion of Lessons Learned
 Of all available testing books, Lessons
Learned is the one closest to the RUP spirit
 There are frequent references in the workbook
 Lessons Learned was written independently
of this course
 It is not a how-to manual for this course; that
book hasn’t been written (yet)
 Some of the Lessons are controversial
 We welcome the controversy
 Good testing requires thinking critically and
contextually

Principles of Software Testing for Testers

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Course Outline
0 – About This Course
1 – Software Engineering Practices
2 – Core Concepts of Software Testing
3 – The RUP Testing Discipline
4 – Define Evaluation Mission
5 – Test and Evaluate
6 – Analyze Test Failure
7 – Achieve Acceptable Mission
8 – The RUP Workflow As Context

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Logistics

Principles of Software Testing for Testers

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Typical Daily Agenda
 8:30 A.M. - 12:00 noon
 Lecture and exercises
 Break ~ 10:00 A.M. - 10:15 A.M.
 12:00 noon - 1:00 P.M.
 Lunch
 1:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.
 Lecture and exercises
 Break ~ 3:00 P.M. - 3:15 P.M.

Principles of Software Testing for Testers

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Exercise 0.1: Understand Your Needs
 Form pairs
 Gather information to introduce your partner
 Name
 Organization, Roles Played, Testing Experience
 Elicit your partner’s top 2 expectations of
this class and/or instructor
 Summarize each requirement in a short
sentence
 Get agreement from your partner on the
wording of each requirement

Principles of Software Testing for Testers

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